


Cacoethes

by Emeka



Category: Seiken Densetsu: Legend of Mana
Genre: Bad Decisions, Bi-Curiosity, First Time, Foreplay, Hand Jobs, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Obsession, Unhealthy Relationships, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-13 00:50:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16006823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emeka/pseuds/Emeka
Summary: Toto does things for the wrong reasons.





	Cacoethes

**Author's Note:**

> environment growing up: be the change you want to see in the world!
> 
> me: write rare pairs? okay

All Toto can say for himself is that he hadn't intended for things to get this serious.

He had liked Escad from the start, at least. Even liked the condescending way his gaze barely skimmed over him, like he didn't exist. Logically he knew it was a bad way to feel, even worse to let his actions be affected by it, but it was so hard to be logical when even his head was full of him.

So he followed him around, and while he was aware of a mounting conflict revealing itself, it hadn't seemed really different than the other hero stuff he did. It didn't even matter. Being near Escad was good enough.

Even Escad's increasingly obvious feelings for Matilda didn't matter. Toto felt shamefully secure with how one-sided they were. And happy. If the person Escad wanted didn't want him back, then that made him available, didn't it? Not even for as much as a romantic relationship; just being a tool would be fine.

In a sense, he was aware his crush was becoming too intense. And for a man who barely seemed to notice him? But it felt too good to be so hopelessly infatuated. Besides, it was just for himself. He wasn't hurting anyone.

Until he had to make a choice, one way or the other. And it had to be one or the other, didn't it? The choice he ended up making was because it was the one he morally agreed with, nothing else. If he saw a chance to be useful, to be noticed... it was just on the side.

It still doesn't feel real. He's only killed monsters before. Things really weren't supposed to get like this.

He fixates even more. It's the only thing that can distract him from Daena. Not even stopping Irwin does that, though he's glad to have done it. Wanting the world to continue aside, it gives meaning to his decision.

And... Escad has finally noticed him enough to accompany him on his journeys. Unrelated. Good, though.

He cautiously hopes for more, now that Matilda is also gone. Making a move would chance everything, but as it is, he's burning up. He's in his head every second of the day, even in his dreams at night. His head is so full of him it'll burst unless the pressure is taken out.

At home is no good with the kids around to get in the way, and Toto doubts he could get Escad to squeeze into the same bed as him. So it has to be a night while they're still out and about.

There's no place in particular he has in mind, nowhere he takes Escad to to bare his heart. There's no good moment to bring it up (assuming there is one, which there may well not be) and Escad is so taciturn that even talking about the weather is awkward. Being in moody places like Lumina or Polpota that would have a good atmosphere for an ordinary couple makes it even worse.

Eventually he finds himself wandering back to the Mindas Ruins. There's no great reason besides not wanting to deal with anything Underworld at the moment, and picking up things he might have left behind previously.

If Escad thinks anything about being here again, he does not say say so. Toto is also mostly silent, just to keep his head where he wants it.

Night begins to set on the way back out (with no treasures to show for it, alas) so they stop to set up camp. Home is so far away after this, and honestly, all the mazing has tired him out.

It's hard trying not to stare too much when he has nothing else to occupy his body with. Escad is honestly so pretty, the roughness of his personality aside. The fading light warms then cools the tone of his skin as it goes from orange to purple, sets gilding in his hair. Even his eyes are changed by the light, made darker, more grey than blue.

Toto wonders a little self-consciously what the light does for him.

Bedrolls are laid out, a fire is made to cook by. Throughout the dinner he thinks Escad maybe watches him a bit in return, though it's probably due to a lack of anything else to look at. He thought.

"So what exactly is your deal?" Escad suddenly demands. "I don't really care since I've nothing better to do anyway, but don't you have any friends to take these trips with?"

Toto pauses for thought, lips pressed still against his waterskin. His heart pounds with the dismay and excitement of realizing this might be his chance to broach his feelings. "I can't just enjoy your company?"

Escad makes a face, looks awfully cute. Toto feels such a rush of affection for it that he feels momentarily nauseated. "Why?"

"That's because..." It's hard to talk with his heart beating in his throat. He tries to swallow it down. "For me, it's like... you and Matilda. The exact same. Isn't it?"

"You love me," Escad says, too flatly to be a question, then quickly shakes his head. "Or like me, anyway."

Toto does not argue the semantics. "You love... loved? Matilda. Not me. But just being with you, I don't mind."

"Is that really all you need?" There's contempt in his voice. It's too smooth to hate it, too sure of itself. "Like a dog. At least I fought for her."

"And if I fought for you?" Toto asks, leaning closer from his bedroll. They're only a few feet away; close enough that he could reach out and touch him. Really touch him, even just on the arm. They've only done so incidentally before. "Would you want that?"

"No. But that's not the point."

Toto leans forward until his palms touch the dirt. Escad leans slightly back in turn, but they're still so close he can see his individual eyelashes on the side of his face the fire lights on. "Matilda didn't love you, but I do. Even if you don't love me at all, I don't mind just being near you."

He nerves himself up to continue. It's so hard to keep eye-contact like this. "I can't stop thinking of you. Everything I did, with Irwin, a-and Daena, it was all for you. Even the way you look at me, like I barely matter, I love it."

"In a way...," Escad begins, the disdain in his voice palpable, "I understand. I loved her, more than anything, and it was that demon she choose. But I wasn't this desperate."

"I don't mind being desperate."

"Obviously."

Toto is so intent on Escad's face that the carelessly rough clasp of his jaw makes him jump before he presses his cheek into it. The callused fingertips pleasantly scratch his skin.

"Not heroic at all. But..."

"Anything," Toto murmurs. "For you."

"Come here."

Toto goes the few extra steps, still on his hands and knees, until he is nearly touching him. He can smell him, the masculine musk and warmth of his skin, the sweat dried in the crook of his neck and glimmering faintly between the pectorals of his semi-bared chest. It's a very normal active male scent, but there's a faint personal note of cinnamon beneath, maybe the remnants of bodywash or cologne. It's the good cinnamon, too, not a child's candy but a mature spice.

If it was cologne, could he lick him and find the spot it was applied?

Escad grabs his nape with his other hand then moves up into the undercurls of his hair, combing through the sweat-knots there before taking his hat and dropping it to the side. "It's not as though you're ugly, especially with that stupid thing off. You really couldn't find anyone else?"

"There wasn't anyone else I wanted." He ignores the rest. He's seen Escad as a kid; he has no room to talk about headgear.

Escad shakes his head, smiling a little and not very pleasantly. His fingers continue combing through Toto's hair, pulling what feels like every root in his scalp.

It occurs to Toto to wonder how much of it is not caring, and how much is just awkwardness. After all...

"I've never done this before," Escad says bluntly. "Anyone else but her would have been wrong, so I never did."

"I never have, either," Toto replies. "Um, touching, or anything else."

"Yeah."

The silence feels more companionable than any they've had before. Maybe not through merely the admitting of mutual virginity, but a mutual vulnerability.

He hesitantly places a hand on Escad's leg, where the bare skin of his lower thigh meets the edge of his shorts. No reaction, besides a small twitch of the muscles beneath his palm. "Can I touch you?"

"A little. Just... don't get full of yourself."

They lean and press their bodies more heavily against each other, not exactly embracing, but supporting each other's weight. Toto happily finds himself smooshed against décolletege.

They're only touching over clothed and non-private areas, but even that feels intimate. No one else has ever touched his upper back like this, ever squeezed down his arms or legs. The areas of him that are bared, like his not inconsiderable expanse of abdomen, are almost tingling with anticipation.

Escad's chin brushes against his forehead, causing an almost instinctive reaction to look up. His mouth is tantalizingly close, and slightly parted to reveal far in the dim pearl of a tooth. Trying to kiss it is also almost instinct, something Toto tries to do only because it's right there and he feels so loving. But he only gets close enough that his intentions are obvious before Escad jerks his face away.

"Don't," he says, looking back and down at Toto, who immediately retreated at the rejection. He only looks somber though, not mad. "You only kiss people you love."

Toto mouthes an 'oh', and pushes his face against his neck. "Just the lips is no-good? Or all kissing?"

"The face, I guess."

"How's this?" He gently kisses beneath his earlobe, and follows down the curve of his neck. Salt slightly stings his lips, but it's worth it to have some kind of kiss. Nor does it seem to be objectionable. Escad pulls away only a little, and that with soft chuckling.

"It tickles."

"Good?"

"Mhmm. Like this."

Escad kisses him return, tracing a line of almost bites along his jugular. He's doing it too hard for it to tickle, so it's a more distinct feeling.

Weird to think he has his life in his mouth.

"You do it rougher than me," Toto remarks, smiling. "With your teeth."

"Doing it your way would creep me out."

He moves back in as Escad pulls away, to kiss the sharply defined line of his collar bone. His hands intently move up his inner thighs, massaging the strong, thick muscle. They're so warm through the thin cloth, and warmer the higher he goes, up to the junction.

Escad sighs deeply only once, but his continued breathing is heavier than before.

Toto looks up and realizes there's less orange to see by than there was before. "The fire is burning out."

"I'll take care of it. Don't do anything without me."

Toto sits on his legs and watches Escad add fuel to the fire, wondering with some amusement what he thought he might get up to. "I wouldn't have minded if you wanted to let it burn out, but I'm glad we agree."

"Just like to see what I'm doing, that's all."

He has to keep himself from replying 'me'? because it seems a little presumptuous. But however far they go (probably not to the end, as he doesn't have anything liquid on hand he'd trust around anyone's privvies) he's at least glad Escad wants to see him too. "That's probably for the best. Since we're both new."

Escad grumbles something and returns, backlit by the renewed flame. "I've got a question."

"Ask away."

They're back facing each other, and when Escad grabs his arm, he thinks at first that they're returning to the groping. When his gloves are yanked off instead, one by one, he's a little anxious, though he isn't against it, either.

"Am I the only man you've been into? Or have you had boyfriends, or whatever?"

"You're the only one I've loved," Toto says, pausing a moment as his chest-piece goes next with some difficulty as it's finally pulled over his head. "But I've seen other guys, you know, and thought they were cute."

Escad sniffs. "Cute." He leans back to stare, gaze obviously directed from the chest down. "Just men?"

"Just men. You?"

His expression turns more thoughtful. It's like Toto can see him deciding whether to say anything or not. "Only in the same way I sometimes thought about other women. Not seriously, usually. But growing up with knights, you hear things, so I wondered."

Toto nods appreciatively. It's a more open answer than he honestly expected.

"Legs out."

His shoes go next, tossed along his pile of other clothing. Socks, pants, hakama, pulled off roughly with knuckles close to the skin, dragging the occasional nail.

It stings, but... it raises shivers up his back.

All he has left to him now is his boxers. The extended front makes him a little self-conscious, since it was nicely hidden in his regular clothes. It is mercifully left alone, though issue is taken with his underwear of choice; either Escad is genuinely affronted by them, or is redirecting the erection issue.

"Aren't these for kids?" he asks, rubbing the hem between his fingers.

Toto looks down at his inoffensive, plain cotton boxers. "They're comfortable. Why, what do you wear?"

"Well--," Escad abruptly begins then stops. He's glowering like he wants Toto to read his mind, although--he's just a little embarrassed too, right? 'Find out for yourself' would be a good flirty line, but also a little cheesy. He takes himself too seriously to put himself out like that.

Good thing Toto doesn't. "I guess I'll just have to investigate," he says, careless and cheerful enough for the both of him. And he really is excited to get the chance.

He starts simple, pulling off the hairband (through a whole bunch of hair, how does he deal with it all?) then armguards, both slowly and careful not to pinch anything, and so he can get a good feel along the way without being too creepily lingering.

He doesn't think about what his face might look like until he's in the middle of stripping his shoes off with all due reverence.

"I like that expression on you," Escad says, voice softer than normal but warm with a strange awed derision. "It's nice being on the other side of this for once."

Had Toto looked that in love? Even if it's one-sided, even if his love is mocked... if it makes Escad happy, it makes him happy too. He makes no effort to look any different as he sits by him to work off his pauldrons.

Unlacing his shirt is like a dream come true. He almost doesn't want to think about what kind of pervert he looks like, especially since he honestly can't keep himself from stopping a moment to spare. How long has he had to imagine what his entire chest looked like? And now to have it finally wholly bared before him--moving on is torture.

He consoles himself with lightly tracing his abdominals on his way down to his belt, which comes off with the butt-cape. Shorts next, thank the Goddess, and he is more than a little reassured to see he is not the only one with an erection. He's not the only one excited here.

When Escad wondered about men, how far did his imaginings go? Is it just all the touching that has him like this right now?

His underwear, though...

"Aww, boxer-briefs aren't that different, are they?"

"At least men wear them," Escad shoots back, arms crossed. "They're the only things I could wear, anyway."

Toto eyes the cast-off shorts, remembers how very tight they are, and smiles. "Worried about panty lines?"

"Better than wearing nothing."

Toto snorts back a laugh. "I wouldn't have to get you naked to see you then."

He thinks he sees an eye-roll, but hey, totally worth it.

"So, from here...," Toto starts, still smiling, "like before?" He casts a long look over him with obvious pleasure, and just maybe Escad straightens up a little under it. "You really look amazing."

Escad sticks his hands back in his hair and ruffles it. He's willing to interpret it as a 'thanks' or even 'you too'.

They fall back on each other, and it feels almost like he's never touched him before. Everything is so different with only underwear in the way. More freeing, sexier, more vulnerable, to be almost naked in the dusty remains of this old ruin.

Toto goes back to his chest and touches all the parts he's never been able to see; the hard sides, the slightly softened indent where they meet the shoulder, the entire swell out from the collarbone, the nipples, which are rubbed into hard little beads. When he places his hands flat against each pectoral, he can feel thumping against one palm.

Escad rests his chin on his head throughout, one hand seemingly just as fixated on the hollow of Toto's hip bone, the other on his ass. "That's not bad. Still liking this?"

Toto laughs. "All of this is doing something for me." It's all the encouragement he needs to go a little further. He licks one nipple, then the other, tasting warm skin and faint salt beneath his tongue. A tentative bite produces a low whining sound that hits him right in the gut.

He does it again a little harder, then back to soft on the other, but that little whine was either incidental, or an off-guard noise, because it sadly doesn't happen again.

Escad gently pulls away and peers down at him. "You're all red."

"You'd be too, if you weren't so tan already." Still, he cups his own face in his hands. The skin feels feverishly warm, but it isn't the place he most feels hot. "Hey, if we can't kiss, then at least..."

"What?"

He points to his cheek. "Nuzzling is fine, right?"

"Not if it's just kissing without kissing."

"Then just this once?"

Escad sighs, and barely nods before Toto has already thrown his arms around him. With great zeal are their faces smushed and rubbed together, sharing a great heat that Toto does not think is entirely is. He willingly goes when Escad pushes back against him, and with a squawk of laughter they fall back on one of the bedrolls--Escad's, by the scent.

They part just enough to see each other.

"How far are we going?"

Toto thinks, trying to hold hands as he does before Escad shakes him off and pins his wrists above his head. Well, this isn't a bad position either. "Not... intercourse, I don't think. Unless you have something?"

Escad shakes his head, sending a cascade of sandy hair in every other direction. He huffs and pulls it over to one side. "If we're going to have some kind of sex, I figure our hands will be good enough."

"Sure. Unless," he begins meekly, "you want to try anyway? Intercourse, I mean." He can feel them pressing together and without being sure that they'll do this again, the thought of not taking him in is killing him a little.

But Escad is shaking his head again. "Even if you're fine getting hurt, I doubt it'll feel that good for me anyway."

 _Maybe_ chafing isn't a one-way issue... still, it's a disappointment. "Okay. Hands."

He turns his neck as Escad kiss-bites down it, baring his jugular. He releases his wrists to feel up the inside of his thigh, inside his boxers but not all the way to the hip. His leg muscles tense slightly with every little movement upward. "You know what to do, right...?"

"I might be a virgin, but I _have_ masturbated," Escad dryly replies, removing his hand from the inside of Toto's underwear to the outside. "I think I'll figure it out."

The moment his palm comes down on Toto's groin, Toto is certain he's not going to last very long. Even with the layer of cotton in the way, it's too much, emotionally if not physically. The only thing that keeps him back is the knowledge of how embarrassing coming so quickly will be.

"You love me, right?" Escad asks so quietly, that Toto nearly misses it. It's very unobtrusive, compared to the hand rubbing him down. "Tell me you love me."

"I'm--I love you!" It comes out too much like a whimper, but it must be good enough. I love you, I love you, he goes on, as Escad presses his cheek against his forehead, I love you, I love you, as Escad humps against Toto's thigh with hard jerks, and the sight of that, even in this dim lighting, is more beautifully erotic than any fantasy he's ever had. He has to dig his fingers into his shoulder to keep from being moved off the bedroll.

"Do you like this?"

"Yes!"

"Do you love me?"

"Yes!"

His underwear is yanked down from his hips, releasing his cock to bob up. It feels extremely hot in the cool night air, and light glints off the visibly wet head. The sight is embarrassing, but arousing despite--or because of--it.

He feels a soft sound murmured against his bangs.

"I love you, so..." Please finish me off before I spontaneously combust. Escad goes to explore everything but his cock, though; his perineum is stroked and kneaded, his testicles jiggled, stretched, and pushed upwards, even his pubic hair is lightly pulled on.

The tension has him sweating and rotating his hips in frustrated circles for several minutes before he snaps. "Do you do all this when you masturbate too?"

Escad sighs. "Don't be difficult. If it feels good, what's the difference?" 

Not a very direct reply. Maybe he doesn't want to admit to his private habits.

"A lot! This is torture!"

"If it is, you should just put up with it, since you love me so much."

Toto chews on his lip. He'd hate to make himself, his love, into a lie, but... "Since this is our first time, maybe you can take mercy on me? Everything is so intense, I can't take it for much longer."

"I guess so," Escad reluctantly says, and shifts until they are more face to face. "But only if you look at me the whole time."

"O-okay."

Escad spits into his palm a few times and grasps his hand--his hard, warm hand--around Toto's length with an almost aching firmness. Even his calluses add to the sensation. It's hard not to look directly at the sight. He settles for a few quick glances, inbetween meeting Escad's eyes again.

Eye-contact during sex should be, he thinks, meaningful. His own feelings aside, he's not sure how romantic this is, but it definitely is sexy. Escad's eyes have always had an intense look to them, and they are not less so now. It makes them hard to meet, but at the same time, it makes the pleasure of being touched by him even stronger.

Two strokes in and he's already moaning; aloud, at first, then with his lips pressed tightly together. Escad's hand isn't wet enough to slide smoothly, especially with how jerky his movements are, but he's so excited and thrilled that even the uncomfortable edge adds to the pleasure.

Ten seconds later and he finishes, sadly but not surprisingly. The grand sensation filling his loins almost forces him into squeezing his eyes shut. He almost literally holds on and grounds himself by digging his fingers into the meat of Escad's shoulder.

If Escad is bothered by being used so harshly as an anchor, it doesn't show. His expression is more... smug, than anything. 

Cute, Toto dreamily thinks, as all the energy drains out of him. He sinks down into the bedroll like the proverbial wet noodle. The only thing he feels amidst the general pleasant fuzziness is a satisfied ache in his stomach.

They remain in place for some indeterminate time, not exactly cuddling, not exactly not. He feels colder now that he's come down, but if Escad doesn't want to kiss, he might not want to be all snuggly either. He seems to be amusing himself anyway, rubbing Toto's semen into his abs. It feels tacky.

"You did this because of me," Escad says, seemingly preening at the idea. It really is cute, the big arrogant smile it gives him, the little tilt of his head. "I'm amazing, aren't I? You felt good, right?"

"Very good," Toto replies, taking the opportunity to cuddle in closer on his own. Besides, now that he's recovered a little, it's his turn to help. "The very best."

With a little pressure, Escad turns over on his back for him with surprising obedience. Or maybe he's just looking forward to getting his own back. The new wet spot on his briefs would seem to indicate that.

Part of Toto would like to be as awfully teasing with him as he'd been treated, but his heart is hammering to hurry on. He tries to steady himself with squeezing his pectorals--maybe he's a little too into them, but he's had them practically flaunted in front of him so long it's hard not to revel in them.

"You look so good," he murmurs, while kissing the dip in his collarbone. "You're just gorgeous."

Escad's chest shivers a little under his mouth. Laughter. "Gorgeous? Who says that?"

"Is sexy better? Manly?"

"Manly--" he pauses a half-second, back arching slightly in response to a nipple-bite "--manly is good."

Toto rubs down the front of his briefs with trembling slowness. The wet spot takes some of his attention, makes him slow down, and another part of his mind is trying to make something of being manly, Escad liking being called manly, a positive thing, other men, men in general, knightly manly men like the ones he'd have been raised around, adolescence--

That's it. It's all he can take.

He pulls his underwear down and immediately his saliva goes into overdrive. "W-wow!"

He doesn't think he's ever imagined a nicer looking cock than the one he's seeing right now. It looks deliciously thick and hard, with a liberal creaming of pre-come. And while objectively it probably isn't much, or any, bigger than Toto's, it being the first one he's seen besides his own sure makes it look monstrously big.

"You're gawking," Escad mumbles.

"How can't I, when you have this treasure in your pants?"

Escad laughs in an odd, choked way, like it was surprised out of him. "Give me a break."

"No breaks," Toto says cheerfully, snuggling in close to Escad's side and tucking his head back under Escad's chin. It's the same position they were in before, and now, he thinks it's the best place to be. It feels so much more intimate to be close to him like this, than if he'd stayed between his legs. "Even your, um... penis is manly."

He holds the member in question for several moments, just feeling the soft engorged skin, and how it throbs in his grip. When you feel your pulse, it's from your beating heart, right? Then even here, this throbbing, is the result of its heart's pounding. It's strangely romantic. "You said you've masturbated before."

"...so?"

"Just wondering what things you did it to." In the brief silence that follows, he wishes he could look up to see his expression. He looks instead at the faint tanline around his waist and thighs. The difference isn't as drastic as he expected.

"Are you asking about other men, again?"

"I guess so."

"If you're so in love with me, why do you even care?"

Toto pretends to think it over. "It's just sexy to me."

"You go first."

Well, that's easy. "Honestly, not usually anything at all. I did it when I couldn't sleep, or when I felt all bothered for some reason. When I fell in love with you, it felt too weird to fantasize about you like that."

"Oh." He can hear the pout in that single little sound. "Well..."

"I mean, I'm sure you thought about girls even most of the time. Matilda, maybe, or just women in general. But when you didn't..."

"When I didn't... sometimes I didn't, then..." Escad's voice lowers and lowers until it sounds muzzy and half-aware. "Only sometimes."

Toto makes an encouraging sound. His thumb slowly strokes over the slippery wet slit of the glans in a more physical show of support. Escad startles, and one hand finds its way into Toto's hair. "What about? The way they looked? Different from women, right?"

"Yeah. Firmer, harder, but... not bad."

An innocuous bit of info, but it fills his gut with heat. "Think about touching them? Or you?"

Escad's response is so quiet, Toto has to strain to hear it over the ambient noise. "Touching them, or being touched by them... knowing they have the same bodies I do..."

"Sex?"

His grip immediately tightens on the roots of his hair. Each pass over his glans makes a wet splotchy noise. "Toto, I'm..."

"You feel so warm and hard. Do you like thinking about it?"

"Oh--" Escad cuts off a moan into his hair, breathing hot moist air against his scalp. "Toto, I'm close, it's close."

"Please. I wanna see."

Toto watches in fascination the way Escad's stomach muscles tighten and then, with the first squirts of semen, release, then tighten, then release, in time with each jet. And there's so much, like a cup of condensed milk poured over his hand.

He's seen semen before, of course. But someone else's is different, even if it's technically the same. The way it sticks between his fingers, the raw smell, maybe even... he sucks a little bit off his index finger, and his face immediately scrunches up. Yep, that too. He hears a mumbled 'oh disgusting' above him and laughs. He sucks the rest off in a hurry--it's not his favorite taste, but it's better than it drying all over his hand. The continued noises of disgust are also amusing.

"So," he says afterward, settling heavily against Escad. "I really enjoyed that. And I think it was good for you too. Right?"

Escad's grip on his hair has loosened to lazily stroke his nape. "It was fine."

"Let's try for all the way next time," Toto sleepily murmurs. His eyelids want to be anything but open. He'd let them do what they want, except he's sure he'd nod off in seconds, and there's something he wants to be sure of first. "There's a next time, right?"

"Having you around could be useful... I guess." Escad sounds even sleepier than he does. His voice is all low and slurry. Toto feels immensely grateful to hear it, a side of him no one ever has. 

And the promise of more? It makes everything he's done worth it.

He falls asleep contented, with the only thought that matters in his head.


End file.
